Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Game 3 Recap: Flyers 6, Caps 3

I'm not even sure where to start, so I'll just throw the burning question out there - have you ever in your life seen a team's offense, defense,goaltending and coaching all go to crap so quickly and at the same time? To paraphrase the late Herb Brooks, the Caps are playing worse every game and right now they're playing like the middle of next week.

And yet, with three minutes left (before Shaone Morrisonn got into the spirit of giving that plagued the defense all night), the Caps were just a single goal down. Which, if you think about it, is consistent with the series so far - the Caps have been absolutely dominated in just about every aspect of the game and yet were in each one until the very end and are down just two games to one.

Never before has the term "so close, and yet so far away" been more apt.

Feel free to comment on specifics - like the Caps, I think I may have expended nearly all of my physical, mental and emotional energy in the four months leading up to the playoffs.

We have been out-everything'd in this series. Our d-men look lost in our own zone, Our forwards are still far too eager to make the pretty play as opposed to the effective one. Our goalie hasn't been in a position to steal a game for us, and he's clearly getting rattled. The refusal to put anyone in front of the net on the first power play unit baffles me.

Other than the 4th line and the PK, and the way Olie opens the bench door, there ain't much good to say.

1) Perhaps Boudreau will have to shake up the line up for real now:a) Start Kolzig- Its not all Huet's fault the caps are down 2-1, but he's hardly been the same player he was down the stretch. Besides we'd like to see Briere try to pull that crap with Olieb) Break up the 1st line- Backstrom looks lost. Perhaps put Laich up front and have Fehr on the other side of AO? Something other than the status quo. c) Play Eminger- He's NOT going to win a Norris, but the current allotment of defense is not getting it done so why not place the guy who was in the lineup when they won their 1 game back?2) Above all the coaching staff needs to remind them its only 2-1! The tide can turn on a dime, so don't give up so quickly. All the caps need to do is win one game in Philly.

Jurcina was horrible last night. I think I counted at least 10 giveaways. Faux rumors is right, you need to put Eminger in there, he might not be the best, but he sure is a heck of a lot better than Jurcina.

And I think they need to switch up the PP as well, way to predictable, the Flyers know where Ovechkin hides...they need to move him around more. Put Kolzig in net, that should clear the crease...

I was disappointed that there wasn't a fight - there are too many guys crashing in on Huet and nobody is paying for it. I'd take a 2-minute penalty and just let Brash go beat the shit out of Briere or one of the other Flyers. It wouldn't really matter which one.

We're taking stupid penalties in every game, why not take one and make it count?

And I agree. Huet's been just ok, so I say give him a day's rest. Put Olie in. I'd like to see one of them crash in on Olie like they've been doing to Huet.

Backstrom looks overwhelmed. He's clearly hit the wall. For one shift BB put Fedorov in his place, but then had to bag that plan when Schultz went down and Feds went to D. If Schultz is out, Eminger will have to play, but so will the god-awful Jurcina.

It looks like we have absolutely no space to work out there. The Flyers are just much quicker to the puck than we are. I don't think the key is so much for us to be more physical, but just to be more decisive and quick in moving the puck.

I agree that Olie should get the nod. Huet hasn't been terrible, but it's time to do something to change the collective attitude. We need a stabilizing veteran presence back there.

Putting Olie in the net is equal to Japanese suicide, plain and simple. Unless Huet completely melts down in one game, I don't see Olie in the net. So far Huet has been able to recover, it's good sign. He didn't deliver any miracles, but he was good.

Huet doesn't deserve to be pulled. You try playing goal with a Flyer running you over every five minutes. I was severely disappointed no Cap ran Biron in that last minute of play. That would have been the perfect spot to respond to all that Flyer crap. If I were Bruce, I'd move Federov up to the first line and Nik down to the second. Let's not forget he's only 20 years old and he's never played this many games in his life. And yes, they are down 2-1, but so was San Jose and they were arguably playing just as badly as the Caps going into last night's game. They turned their season around in a space of four minutes, so it's not time to throw in the towel yet. Finally, the biggest play of this series might be Laich's hit on Timmonen. If he can't go on Thursday, all bets are off.

Mark my words, the lines will look something like this Thursday:Ovy-Feds-KozSemin-Laich-FehrGordon-Stecks-CookeBrash-Backstrom-Bradley

Eminger will be in for Schultz is my guess as well.

All of that said, I think it's just a technicality because we are getting beat in every way, and that's not a mistake or a fluke. This is all really valuable for this franchise, as GMGM will have his summer work cut out for him. This Flyers team may go to the finals if they can stay healthy. I think Montreal is the only team that could challenge them. Pretty damn good work by Paul Holmgren. Sorry if this isn't what folks want to hear. :-(

The officials sure called Laich pretty quick when he touched Biron, then lets go the majority of contact with Huet. Incredible. It's almost as if the Caps are relying on the official to put an end to the contact with the goalie.

I've just about had it with the Caps' PPP (Pentagon Power Play).

The Caps' rush up the ice looks the same way everytime. It is highly frustrating to all.

I think someone needs to run Biron. Those evil flyers have been throwing guys through Huet with reckless abandon. I say let Cooke run Biron, let them know that if they think they can mess with our goalie, the gloves will come off.

Huet gave up two last night over the glove shoulder that - if it was Olie, people would be screaming for his head on a platter.

My point about putting Olie in is NOT because Huet has been bad. I think a few of these goals he's just been plain out beaten, which happens. Plus, his defense has left him hanging out there more than a few times. No goalie is perfect.

During the stretch run, Huet was the THE difference. Plain and simple. But now it's different. If he's stoning everyone, I wouldn't switch. At this point, the goalie isn't the problem. I think we'd all agree on that.

JP, Kozlov played a good game, Backis completely disappeared. I don't know if he can be back in these series. Put Feds in the top unit, and also put him on a blue line on PP instead of Ovechkin. Ovechkin should go up front on PP, close to the net and crush it. His game is out of sink, at least he can do some damage up front. Flyers don't allow him to shoot from blue line anyway.

BB has been outcoached, the team is too transparent, that's why the changes needed.

jp is right. Backstrom has been a non-factor but he's 20 and will get bigger and stronger. Better to get pushed around now and not a few years from now. However, Kozlov has no such excuse. How can a guy that big with playoff experience be largely invisible? I can't believe I'm saying this but Semin has really shown me something. At least he's out there competing.

I don't know who was drinking that Kool-Aid and thinking our D wouldn't be an issue in the playoffs but something has to be done in the off-season. We have good prospects in the system but our flaws have been thrown into sharp relief.

I like your lines, marc. Reuniting Backstrom with Bradley and Brashear could definitely work. The 1st line has been horrible so far, a change can only mean improvement.I, like tj, saw things that I liked. I didn't think they were thouroughly outplayed. Timely saves (on the 2nd and 5th goal especially) and fewer penalties would have probably resulted in a win. Put the battle tested playoff proven goalie in net, clear the crease, play more disciplined and momentum might indeed swing to the Caps' side.

This thing isn't over. It's only 2 games to 1, but BB is going to have to start doing some coaching. Agreed with everyone on moving Backstrom down - he's been terrible and is probably spent. Kozlov is Kozlov - he plays smaller than any man his size in the league and always has. Perhaps a pairing with Fedorov or Laich will help him get going.

As for the goaltending, I'm not sure if we can pull Huet without officially giving up, but you just can't allow 3 goals on 3 shots. He has been bad. Not much help, but he is letting in some shots that he - or any goalie for a contending playoff team - has to stop.

The team just isn't skating on D, and the first line and the power play are both stuck in place. I'd shake up the first PP unit - put Feds and Green at the point, Ovechkin in the slot, Backstrom or Laich down low, and Semin along the boards. Right now it goes to Backstrom on the boards and Philly knows he'll never shoot.

BB has to make it clear to this team that, despite the way they've played so far, they are very much in this series. Win game 4 and it's a best of 3 with home ice.

The VS announcers think Green won because he was standing up for Mo who Upshall had blindsided seconds before - he got some good punches in, but then Upshall knocked him down, so I'd call it a draw - it was over pretty fast.

I see no reason not to start Olie tomorrow. Huet has played what, now, 15 games in a row? Before the game, he was interviewed and said he would rely on the referees to keep the crease clear - he's clearly rattled by the constant pressure and no one's doing anything about it - last night would have been a perfect opportunity to crash Biron a few times in the last minute.

Daniella is quickly turning into this generation's Matt Barnaby. I can't stand that guy - but I know I'd love to have him on my team.

If Schultz can go tomorrow, can't we have Green-Mo, Poti-Feds, and Schultz-Eminger as the d pairings and dress Flesh as the extra forward - as bad as he's been, if it gets Erskine and Jurcina off the ice, I'd be all for it.

Folks, it would obviously be nice if they were playing better, but this is not a championship team. This is a team of inexperienced kids who played their guts out to get to the playoffs. And now they have run into a team that matches up well witht them. If they had the Sens in the first round, we'd still be fawning all over the Caps.

So, c'mon, be disappointed, but cut the personal attacks on these guys. Nobody feels worse than the players.

And for the record, I would love to see Kolzig in net. Nobody would come into his kitchen w/out paying a price.

Since the link isn't working here it is from Tarik's blog:Fedorov On Top LineJust got to Wachovia Center and and there's been another round of line scrambling. The Biggest change involves Sergei Fedorov, who has been moved to the top line, where he's centering centering Alex Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov.

Fedorov has stepped in for rookie Nicklas Backstrom, who has struggled and at times looked overwhelmed in his first NHL playoff series. Backstrom, meantime, has been dropped to the second line and is skating between Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin.

Here's how they are lined up:Ovechkin-Fedorov-Kozlov Laich-Backstrom-SeminCooke-Steckel-BradleyBrashear-Gordon-Fehr

Also, defenseman Jeff Schultz (undisclosed injury) is not out there, so it looks like Steve Eminger will get back into the lineup.

The way we are losing these games--with our own mistakes--is pretty disgusting. Tighten up on D for cryin' out loud!

BB faces a tough choice on Huet, who is not to blame solely for our deficit right now, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Kolzig on Thursday...no question we see him in net at home on Saturday if we go down 3-1.

Per Jason Cantreporta, "The rookie head coach said he never entertained the thought of changing goalies during Tuesday night's convincing 6-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Wachovia Center, and Huet will be back in net here for a critical Game 4 on Thursday."

JP, isn't it amazing that Jason can be away from the sport for a couple of years and still know more about the game than anybody else in the city. I guess that's because he's from Hockeytown, USA. Hey, we kid because we love...kind of...sort of. Not really.

I'm not really going to try and defend Jurcina but I will say that I still feel safer with him on the ice than Erskine - he's at least a bit more mobile and doesn't turn the puck over as much (even given the last couple games) as during hte regular season he had .613 giveaways a game to Erskine's .686.

I also think that there's another aspect of Erskine's game that's being overlooked - he has a ton of shots blocked. He has all season and in this series he's had one shot on goal and three blocked. They're generally by forwards too, which is really a problem with Erskine's acceleration and foot speed.

Sure there's something to be said for his toughness but you can't hit a guy if you can't catch up to him and his physical presence sure doesnt seem to be intimidating the Flyers.

It's strage - Boudreau is able to recognize and willing to change up lines that were once successful and are now faltering and powerplays that have had a few bad games yet he seems so married to the idea of having a left-handed defenseman playing in Erskine's spot that he's willing to overlook the fact that Erskine is a huge liability every time he's on the ice.

I don't know what to make of his decision. One the one hand it was nice to see the Capitals try and take back some of the physical play. On the other hand it's no good to have one of your best offensive players sitting for seven minutes when you're trying to make a comeback

Disagreed, JP. I think Kozlov has just been swarmed every time he gets the puck, but still manages to keep it a lot of the time.

The whole thing's a disgrace at this point, the whole team just looks lost, and anyone who isn't saying to play Olie doesn't know shit. If we're gonna lose, we may as well have them pay for running a goalie. There should have been about 900 interference penalties on them for that garbage, but they REFUSE to call one. So fine, if there's no interference calls, make them pay in blood. See if they keep that shit up.

I think there's plenty good reason to start Kolzig in game 4. The shake up of goalies could wake some of the guys up that they are not coming through for their goal keeper, offensively or defensively. And, although it was 10 years ago, Kolzig is the only Cap that any of us have seen with a certainty elevate his game come playoff time. They can't get new players. So maybe a new backstop provides a new attitude.

If the reason to start Olie is that Briere won't run his crease, this team really has hit rock bottom. Goalie's shouldn't have to defend themselves. That's the job of the other five guys are on the ice.

If the reason to start Olie is that Briere won't run his crease, this team really has hit rock bottom. Goalie's shouldn't have to defend themselves. That's the job of the other five guys are on the ice.

Well put, and I'd add that it's the job of the guys wearing the orange (hey, wait a minute...) arm bands.

Y'know, when they called the Laich interference, I thought it was weak. Then they called the interference on Hartnell and I said, "OK, they're sending a message to both teams that there's zero tolerance on goalie interference - I'm good with that." Then the rest of the game proved that that wasn't what was going on at all. Shame on me for having a little faith in Koharski.

The impact of the goaltending decision goes beyond stopping the puck though.

In general the team has looked much more comfortable with Huet in net, less concerned with having to compensate for potential mistakes. With Kolzig, he was allowing so many bad rebounds that the team seemed to want to collapse and try and prevent them. Yet at the same time he let in so many soft goals that they looked like they wanted to try and cut off all shooting lanes and keep players to the outside. Trying to do both at the same time is pretty much impossible and the result was a lot of players standing around, making it hard to break out or get any flow going.

It's possible Kolzig is the better option right now, but I doubt it because I think Huet is the better goalie. It is at least something that Boudreau should consider and evaluate in practice though.

I will say that having more attitude in net is not enough alone to justify making the change. Sure Kolzig has a bit more fire but the goalie shouldn't have to protect himself - Morrisonn, Jurcina, Eminger and especially Erskine (who needs to do something to earn his keep) have the responsibility of making that area hell to go through and they're not doing it - you can't fault Huet for that.

If the reason to start Olie is that Briere won't run his crease, this team really has hit rock bottom

I'd change the word 'team' to 'fan base' :)

It's not 1998, wake up from coma! How do they think Olie would protect himself, slashing people? And if you think that it can scare Hartnell or little punk Briere, think again. Briere has his stick too and he is very effective at spearing people.

I think Huet does a very good job at protecting himself. And I do believe it didn't affect his performance. Kolzig, on the other hand, would get really mad for sure.

1. Not Huet's fault by any stretch of the imagination so far, but he hasn't shone either; I think he's making himself small at times (legs tucked behind himself, elbows in tight, glove in front of his torso, etc.) and the goals have been untimely. Kolzig should play game 4, if only to shake things up.

3. The series isn't over yet - although the Caps have been consistently outplayed, they have showed flashes of resilience and promise. The key is to get back to basics; early outs in the defensive zone, quicker/more precise puck movement in the neutral zone (for which some speed must be generated) and shots, shots , shots on Marty Biron. 16 saves for a win is not playoff hockey.

4. Can ANYONE explain to me why Gabby had Ovechkin serve Green's extra minor in the 3rd? Why do you put the best player in the universe in the penalty box for two minutes when you're down two goals?

My argument for Huet is simple: Kolzig sucks. Bash all you want, but it would be crazy to put in Kolzig because he is more apt to slash the backs of some legs than Huet is. Winning game 4 is not going to happen because of that. Winning game 4 is going to happen because the team becomes more accountable to each other, stops frigging around in the defensive zone, and starts putting more rubber on the net, like 35-40 times.

Can ANYONE explain to me why Gabby had Ovechkin serve Green's extra minor in the 3rd? Why do you put the best player in the universe in the penalty box for two minutes when you're down two goals?

Because Gabby doesn't use Ovie to kill penalties and there's always a chance that you catch the other team when the player is let free from the box and it leads to a scoring chance (see Briere in Game 1). At least that's what I'd guess Bouds was thinking.

But what happens if Philly takes another minor in the interim? Now your best threat 4 on 4 is drinking Gatorade and watching from the sidelines. Getting caught with the guy coming out of the box behind you is inexcusable - that's why goalies always bang their sticks on the ice at the end of the penalty time, to alert the PP that there will soon be a man to cover in behind them - Briere shouldn't have been able to do it, and I think it's low percentage to bank on being able to sneak Ovie in behind the Flyers D.

I'm not saying that cost the Caps the game or anything; it just struck me as an odd choice.

And yeah, it's been said. The reason I advocate an olie start is not JUST to slash the shit out of briere, but because huet seems rattled and just hasn't been the player he was down the stretch. I can't blame people for thinking he's hot stuff for his play down the stretch, but it's time to face facts; he's let in really soft goals. And if your complaint is that olie lets in soft goals, then you have the same problem in 2 goalies. May as well give the one a try, damn.

I'm feelin' ya--no one more than me wants to see Briere in particular (but Upshall is getting up there) get crushed or have his legs chopped for the cheap s%*! they are pulling. As an aside, I actually have no beef with Hartnell, and wish one or two of our guys would stick his nose in the crease as often as he's doing it to us.

The best revenge is to score goals, lots of them, and we just can't do it a man down for taking a retaliation penalty. Someone said, "you have a whole career to get back at someone," for a cheap shot. That's a one on one thing. The time is now for the TEAM to suck it up and get going, or the links beckon next week...

Ovie serving bench minors and various other odds and ends penalties has been the standard as far back as I remember, even with Hanlon.

JPs reason is exactly why they do it. The penalty killer coming out of the box is a much larger threat than you think.

And should the 4 on 4 happen, I'm sure the team can manage without him for however much longer he stays in, and then he'll be on for the powerplay as soon as he gets out.

Also, not a huge thing, but Huet isn't really making himself smaller by tucking his elbows in. That's actually what goalies are taught to do. Those ugly squeakers that trickle past the goalie into the net is a result of the goalie not having his elbows tight against his body. It's also much quicker to explode your arms out than it is to retract them in.